Four day weekend + good weather = no excuse for staying inside doing nothing productive (ie wasting hours on the internet)
So:
- one session of cardio tennis
- 40km bike ride
- shopping (yawn)
- walk on Painswick Beacon
- walk on Haresfield Beacon
- many laps of CIWW (no capsizing!)
- 45km bike ride (complete with steep hill)
- a bit of gardening
- one tennis lesson
this way to the top.. random arrow on Painswick
More than enough to justify a large takeaway pizza, several creme eggs and a bag of mini eggs... probably.
My far too on-off relationship with rock climbing has been based entirely indoors for many years now.. until last weekend!
First off, an impromptu Sunday evening bouldering session at Haresfield. I didn't actually do much, because I'm not hugely fussed on bouldering (I like ropes and harnesses!). But any excuse to take photos and be a bit sociable.
Then an after work trip up Cleeve Hill on Monday, climbing as the sun set. Absolutely beautiful - views across Cheltenham and warm limestone!
photo of me, taken by Hazel
Unsurprisingly I'd forgotten how different outdoor climbing is to the climbing wall, with its convenient and obvious holds. I frequently found myself struggling to figure out where to put my hands. More practise required!
I could definitely get used to this unseasonably warm weather - though as soon as the sun set it did get rather chilly, as a nice reminder that it's still only the middle of April, hah.
Shame my juicy looking apple went for an unplanned trip down a steep bit of hillside though. Better than knocking something important off, I guess
Sunny Sunday afternoons are made for cycling. Even better if it's following up a roast dinner with my parents! I went for a reasonably short (26k) bike ride up the Monnow. Quiet lanes there, b-roads back, and two border crossings.
It would possibly have made life easier if I'd remembered that the lanes turn into narrow pothole filled not-very-road-bike-friendly terrain. Which at one point turned into a huge road closed barrier! But some people walking down told me it would be fine, as long as I was happy lifting my bike over a ditch/fence/barrier at the other end - and a rather large hole where the road should have been. Oops.
yeah yeah whatever...
Turning back would have either meant a long detour, or not getting to my intended destination - Skenfrith Castle. So muddy ditch it was. Sorry bike!
Skenfrith castle tower
Other things to remember: Monmouth is a lot more hilly than Gloucester, and I am not used to cycling up hill. On several occasions I ran out of gears and lung capacity, so got off and pushed...
But it's worth it to then fly back down the road at 40-50km/h 
So fast and smooth! Until I uploaded the GPS data to Strava, which basically says "haha look how slow you are compared to everyone else". But that's sort of ok, because I'm cycling for my own enjoyment rather than a desire to be the fastest/best.
And who knows, one day I might learn to stick to proper roads rather than crap ditchy lanes.. At least until I get a new mtb, anyway 
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